breezy beachy day

Seaside, OR
April 23, 2011

Seeing that it was the first warm and sunny day Oregon has seen since 2011, my bf and I snatched the opportunity to hit up the beach. Not knowing what beach to go to, I let my stomach decide for me as we headed towards US 26 west and approached a fork on the road. The left took us to Tillamook while the right took us to Seaside. I had an odd desire for Elephant ears so Seaside it was. We didn't expect many people to be there as it was still chilly ~65ish, but boy were we in for a surprise. It was packed! Oregonians really know how to take advantage of the precious, nice weather :)

I wanted to take pictures of the elephant ears, but being the elephant-ears-deprived creature I was, I attacked it like a savage and only remembered about the picture when I was satiated. 

As we were walking along the boardwalk, I saw this guy get off the binoculars thing, so I went over and put a quarter in to look out into the beach. Instead of looking into the beautiful water or into the sky searching for birds, the binoculars were zoomed in to TWO girls' behinds. WTF was that pervert looking at?!? Those poor girls! If only they knew. So then I told my bf to look into the binoculars to see what that peeping tom was looking at, and immediately right after he peeked into the binoculars, it went black. That was less than 10 seconds! What a rip off.

Here's my bf trying to figure out why the screen was all black, and he couldn't see anything. lol. 

I told my bf to get out of the picture but he still managed to get his nose and part of his face in there.

After basking in what's left of the sun hiding behind a thick bed of clouds, we grabbed Tillamook's ice cream at this one sandwich shop. See, we didn't need to go to Tillamook to get ice cream. I actually like the sandwich shop's ice cream better than the Tillamook Cheese Factory place because the ice cream was actually frozen and hard, so it doesn't melt as fast. The Tillamook one was almost like a soft-serve consistency. 

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Spring Rolls

The day before we went to Seaside, I was in the mood to cook, so I decided to make spring rolls. I already have most of the ingredients at home, so it was a quick and easy meal. I cut up a chunk of beef into thin pieces, sliced prawns in halves, and threw them in an oyster sauce + soy sauce + honey marinade that I concocted on the spot. It just felt right. I also tossed in a couple spoons of sugar for the heck of it. The marinade came out pretty good, though it could use a few more spoons of sugar. LOL. I used lettuce, green apple, cucumber, mint, cilantro, and some other greens for the roll.

Table top cooking

and then roll

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Most recent haul

Technically, I didn't buy anymore after I said I wouldn't. These were the things I had purchased prior to my last blog, but I just didn't receive them until recently. Although today, Pac Sun had a $10 off $25 coupon that I desperately wanted to use to buy these necklaces that I absolutely adore, but I had the self-restraint to say NO. Well, it was actually a difficult battle as I was already on the check out page when I used all the restraint I had to x out of the page. :( I'm one step closer to saving money! Technically, not really, because I blew $63 on gas today. WTF! 

circle lenses + freebies. enter snowrice at checkout to get the freebies.

*scratches head* this is why I need to stop buying online. this is just ONE week's worth of addiction.

denying temptation- failed

Thai Cabin- Beaverton, OR

I have the self control that of a fish when it comes to food. When I get hit with a craving, I must satisfy it, no questions asked. It's been hard limiting myself to just home food, so I succumbed to my cravings and had Thai food! Yay! :) The bf and I went to Thai Cabin, which isn't the best joint to get my pad thai fix, but since it's close, and he doesn't feel like driving far, we settled. It was about 4pm, so we had the entire restaurant to ourselves. There was one waiter, and I'm not sure if he happened to be the cook also or not, because he would disappear into the kitchen for a very long time. 

We ordered the crab puffs, which were usually good, but it was slightly over-fried this time, making the crusts hard. They also changed up the stuffing because it tasted different, and it also looked different too. The dipping sauce it came with was also a bit plain. It used to have been more colorful and much much more flavorful before. The pad thai came out okay, as it wasn't spectacular which I had already expected. The bf got smokey chicken, which was okay too. None of the flavors were a blast in my mouth. Just okay food, for okay price. The only thing good was the Thai iced tea. It's always been a fave of mine, though I tend to say that for every Thai joint in general since I can't quite differentiate the taste yet. 

presentation is key to Thai dishes

burnt crab puffs

chicken pad thai

smokey chicken

one final pic :)

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This week's loot finally came in the mail today. I am starting to enjoy buying online much more than buying in stores. For one, somehow I always find great coupons/deals/discounts when I buy online, but I always pay for the same thing for so much more when I buy in stores. Nowadays, with retailmenot and slickdeals being my best friend, I have found so many good deals that I just couldn't resist buying. I told myself not to buy anything after this last haul, but then of course AE had to have a 20% + free shipping deal, and since I already have a $50 gift card from u.talk.back that I received earlier this year and haven't gotten the chance to use, I figured why not. I got two pairs of shorts (shorties and a high-waisted one) and a shirt for $9.88! woohoo. I also ordered another pair of glasses, black Vera Wang's, and I can't wait to get those in the mail next week.

Here's pictures from this week's loot that came in the mail.

AF- paid like ~$36 for 4 shirts at $7.45 a pop + s&h

coastalcontacts glasses

folica- still in box

$89.99 during the special sale

Seriously though, after this, I honestly can't spend any more money.. UNLESS if a really Reaaaally and I mean REALLLY good deal pops up... Which may or may not happen depending on my luck >___<

eating out-- banned!

Cheesecake Factory- Tigard, OR

okay desserts don't count

April is eat-out-less month, hence the lack of recent entries. It started when my bf told me that we needed to cut back on the times we went out to eat so we can save money for our Vegas trip this summer. It made perfect sense, eat less, and save more. Yet, how is it that I have drastically reduced the number of times I've eaten out, and I still can't save?

It has probably been about a year now since I've actually splurged on myself. Since last summer, I've cut back on my materialistic spending and instead spent most of my money on food. Now that I am eating out less than usual, I started spending more money on materialistic goods. I think I have a nasty habit of not being able to save money, thus, I spend whatever I have.

My first splurge started out small with a makeup purchase, but it has since then escalated out of control. Not quite out of control, but it is so completely satisfying making purchases and filling my closets and makeup drawers with clothes and makeup.

foundation primer + silk creme foundation in rose ivory <333

af haul + tokidoki wallet

love the unicorn!

black scarf, white scarf, belts (x2)

Clinique gel moisturizer + gift with purchase <3

I also bought:

$89.99 on Folica.com

frames+lens

I also have another haul from Abercrombie and Fitch. I can't wait for more stuff to come in the mail this week. Yayyy!!  So where do I shove all of these cool things I buy? In my super large closet, of course.

random pic of the view in my room

I'm gonna miss this place.

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Wassabi- Hilsboro, OR

Since I'm in a blogging mood, I'll update on something I ate a while ago. I heard about Wassabi online, and I was attracted because of the intense craving for sushi I had along with their excessive menu options for special sushi rolls. My friend and I, being the newbies we were, decided to randomly order.

We started with the vegetables and shrimp tempura, which was a decent portion of giant-sized veggies and shrimp. It was good and it definitely satisfied my fried and crispy craving. 

We also got the fried coconut shrimp, which was really good. However, at this point, the oily, crispy, fried food really got to me. I enjoyed it, but I was really sick of the oil. I should have ordered a lighter appetizer.

Then the sushi came! I forgot what the one on the left is called, but the right is Mt. Saint Helens. LOL. To my horror, look at what it was covered in! MORE oily, fried, and crispy stuff! At this point, I couldn't tell what delicious was anymore. I was sick to my stomach with oily food and the shirley temple I got didn't really help wash the food down. Don't get me wrong, the food was good, but not the combo that I got. I should have gotten noodles, or maybe chicken teriyaki, or something else that wasn't so.. greasy. I gotta give it to them though, the presentation of the food was really nice. I'd definitely come back.

inedible delectables

Most recent obsession

i'm messy- so what?!

Gonna turn these babies into necklaces and earrings :)

ayce seafood

Chen Buffet- Vancouver, Washington

As tradition for most Sunday evenings, my family and I decided to eat out. We hit up Chen's Buffet in Vancouver after hearing raves about it from my sister's boss. We were warned to get there once they open at 5pm because that's when they bring out all the food. We didn't really comprehend what she meant by that, but now we completely understand. Unlike other buffets we've been to, this one definitely defies humanity. All humility, shame, and courtesy is thrown out the window once we entered this establishment. They literally only put out enough of the decent food every fifteen minutes, and within a minute, no, actually 30 seconds, it'll be gone. Poof. No, it's not that people rush to it like hungry animals, no no, they wait for it at the buffet tables, like predators awaiting the prey. People literally crowd around the buffet tables waiting for the lobsters, conch, and clams to come out. I have never seen a buffet place in which there is so many selection of food, and yet all I see is emptiness by the time I hit the buffet table. My sister and I are no match compared to the locals there who are used to waiting for the food to come out, and then piling as much food as they can fill on their plates. Yet somehow, my mom, being the lucky and fortunate lady she is, happened to trespass by the lobster table after the madness disappeared because they thought the next serving would arrive 15 minutes later. We managed to get some lobster and crab legs thanks to her. Otherwise, at the buffet table, there is no courtesy, no "saving" some for the people waiting behind you. On top of that, this place is definitely understaffed. They do not refill drinks, and the busboy comes by every 30 minutes to take away dirty plates. The plates are also impossible to find as only some buffet tables have plates and they change randomly. Additionally, kids run rampant around here, screaming and yelling every few minutes. How people put up with this? I know not. I think orangutans are better tamed than those kids. 

oysters and shrimp

chinese food

squid and fish

lobster- bits of the tail and claws

clams- mad good

crab legs- meh

I couldn't even get close enough to the lobster/clams/conch table to take a picture of it. By the time I got close enough to take pictures, there was nothing left to take pics of :( I must give this place props though, their food is actually good. The clams are actually cooked in some sort of oyster sauce or something because they're delicious. The quality is decent as well, since it's hit or miss whether your clams will have grit in them. The lobster was cooked in a gingery/oyster sauce as well. The crab legs were disappointing as the quality wasn't too good. I also enjoyed eating the coconut shrimp. Aside from that, everything else there was pretty bland Chinese food. 

camwhore :)

spam musubi

Spam Musubi

I woke up early today (10:30am), so I decided to make spam musubi to help the day pass by. I wasn't craving it, and usually I don't make anything unless I have this intense craving for it, so boredom was the only legitimate reason for why I got my lazy butt out of bed. Spam musubi is really easy to make and it requires very few ingredients, most of which I already had at home: spam, sushi rice, furikake, and nori. I first learned of this dish through my friend who brought it to a party, and I immediately fell in love with it. I found the recipe online, but I don't remember where, probably youtube or something. They're not the prettiest thing to look at, but spam musubi makes for a great snack, and it's very delicious. If you're ever craving something salty, fishy, seaweedy, but don't want to hit up the local sushi joint, this will more than suffice.

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After making spam musubi, I convinced my sister to hit up the Woodburn Outlet with me again today. I had to get that wallet that I wanted badly the last time I was there with my bf but he wouldn't let me get. This time, the place was a disappointment, it was an utter mess. Hoards and hoards of Asians were in there, rummaging through every bag, and tossing it quickly back onto the shelves. The nice store from my memory of a couple days ago were not only replaced by this hideous sight, but completely obliterated. I tried to find the white bag with the charriot design on the fabric but the only thing that remained was the empty shelf from which it rested last. Then I went over to the wallet section and saw ONE last white leather medium wallet that I wanted from last time but didn't get. There was only one left, and a part of me wanted it badly, but another part didn't want to shell out more $$$ to buy it. This was the epitome of cognitive dissonance. On one side, my superego told me to save my money and stop spending, but on my other shoulder sat my id, which told me to go for the kill. Ah! Struggling with this internal conflict and not knowing what to do, I kept playing around with the wallet until I finally decided that I couldn't spend any more money. I set it down and left the Coach store quickly so I wouldn't look back.

After we were done checking out the outlet, we pulled out when I checked my phone and saw a missed call and a text from my bf saying, "Guess what I got for u." I called him back immediately to see what it could be, and he told me that he had dropped by the Coach store earlier to buy me the wallet! Get out!! I was so stoked and glad that I didn't buy the wallet earlier. It's times like these that I honestly feel so lucky. I didn't think he'd ever buy me the wallet since he doesn't think that it's worth it. Moreover, I didn't realize that he paid attention to the things that I look at when we go shopping. It made me happy that he noticed the materialistic object of my desire and is willing to go out of his way to get it for me. <3

<333